Class Blog 10-23

Today in class groups began presenting their midterm projects. Catie and Becca began by presenting a lesson involving mixtures. The activity explained what mixtures are and some examples of familiar ones. We then took a quiz and watched a video on making jello.

The next group to go was Lindsey and Melanie. They presented a lesson on habitats. The two talked about the different types of habitats and provided an example of a good project to show students' knowledge of habitats.

The next group was Kelli and Angie. The two presented on the concept of sink or float. They discussed objects that sink or float and we tested objects to see if they sank or float. The objects we tested were: toothpick, pencil, cotton, grape, crayon, playdough, and paperclip.

The next group was Brooke and Megan who presented on Oil and Water. They showed how oil and water do not mix. They then dropped in blue food coloring and they to show that some blue would sit in the oil but completely cover the water.

The last group of the day was Danielle and Whitney who presented on Living and Non-Living things. The two gave an idea for students to show their knowledge of living and non-living things. The activity involved cutting out pictures of objects from the two categories and then pasting them under their appropriate labels.

Class Blog 10-21

In today's class we began by looking at the chapter 5 and 6 reading guide that must be submitted by next Monday. We went through the questions as a class and Dr. E explained her expectations on the assignment. She also made it clear that we need to include examples from the text to support our answers.

Next, we did a ping-pong ball activity where we placed a ping-pong ball in a cup with a funnel and then placed another cup an inch or so away. By blowing on the cup under the ball, we were able to jump the ball across to the other cup. Through our experiment we found that if you blow under the ball it would jump, but if you blow breeze over the ball, it caused the ball to go backwards.

Class Blog 10-16

Today's class was in the smartroom where we did an activity on the internet that involved safety. The internet activity involved lessons in safety and common rules such as not talking to strangers or downloading software without the support of an antivirus. We were also given the rest of the time to continue planning our midterm projects.

Class Blog 10-14

Today in class, Dr. E described the expectations for the midterm project more thoroughly. The concept of a science story was not very clear to me, however, Dr. E provided an example of a science story for us to read and get an idea what is expected for that portion of the project. After reading the science story, we were given the rest of the class to work with our partners on the midterm project. My partner and I developed the outline for our project based on the outline that Dr. E provided us.

Class Blog 10-9

In place of today's class Dr. E asked us to visit the Cyber Bee website. When I visited the website, I found several links that could be helpful in my experiences in the future. The link to the website is http://www.cyberbee.com. I found the curriculum idea section of the website to be the most helpful because the link contained activity ideas for not only science, but the areas of math, social studies, and language arts.

Class Blog 10-7

For today's class we began by discussing any unclear information regarding the quiz, reading guide, and the midterm project. After discussion we moved to a PowerPoint regarding safety considerations for the classroom in regards to experiments. The next slide we looked at discussed the expectations for our "Midterm Safety Through Science Stories" video project. Next, we looked at the handout that we grabbed at the beginning of class that went over some tips for judging a science fair since we would be involved in judging a fair within the next month.

Our last activity for class was a mirror drawing activity. Our group was given a mirror, index card, paper, and a pencil. The pencil was poked through the index card and the mirror was held up by a partner. Our goal was to write our name or draw figures without looking at the pencil and using only the mirror. The figures needed to be drawn exactly like they would appear normally but looking through the mirror. The task proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Each time I needed to move the pencil in a certain direction, I ended up moving it in the opposite direction.

Class Blog 10-2

For class today we began by over viewing chapters 3 and 4 in "Ready, Set, Science." We briefly looked at a few PowerPoint slides regarding childrens' capabilities to learn and understand science. I learned that before school, children are able to understand their own ideas and beliefs regarding knowledge. Dr. E said that we should "never lose sight of what it's like to be a kid." I found that quote to be really important and relevant to myself in regards to teaching now and in the future.

Next we discussed "Plato's Allegory of the Cave." I had never heard of the idea before and found the video to be very interesting. "Plato's Allegory" involves prisoners in a cave being locked up with their heads faces a stone wall. Behind the prisoners, a fire is burning. When people walked by, their shadows would display in front of the prisoners. That was the only vision of the world that they knew. So when they were released they were basically blind and unaware of what they were seeing. To recreate "Plato's Allegory," our class did an experiment regarding mystery black boxes. We had to figure out what was in the boxes without being able to see. My partners and I thought that there were different objects in the boxes and not that there were objects places at different angles in the box to make the marbles move differently.

Class Blog 9-30

We had class online today where we looked at a module and answered guided reading discussion questions regarding Chapters 3 and 4 in "Ready, Set, Science." The chapter discussed how children are able to understand science based on knowledge that they are embedded with naturally. Even before school, children have qualities that they are able to use and put forth towards learning science. The module and questions were lengthy but I found it to be very informative and the questions covered the information that seemed pertinent in the reading.

Class Blog 9-25

For class on Thursday we met online for a Web-Seminar. A Web-Seminar was like an online lecture where everyone is involved and interactive with the topic. The topic of the seminar was "The life of a Star". There were professors from across the nation, including our own Dr. E, who helped regulate the discussion. The seminar discussed the life of star and included information like how a star is formed and what a star is made of. Everyone attending the class had the chance to provide input and ask questions. There were also points in the seminar where we had chance to give our own personal reactions and see how everyone else answered.

I learned alot from the seminar and thought it was a really interesting way to provide information. I thought it was great how people from all over the world could come together and attend the same class and discuss information. This was the first time that I have attended a web-seminar and I enjoyed the experience. I would enjoy having another seminar in the future.